The irony of existentialism, the parody of being and the inherent contradictions of post-modernism, all so delicately conveyed by the blocky, pixelated arcade action have all been painstakingly recreated in this bottles contents. This imperial stout is brewed with copious amounts of speciality malts, jasmine and cranberries. After fermentation we then dry-hop this killer stout with a bucketload of our favourite hops before carefully ageing the beer on French toasted oak chips. It is all about moderation. Everything in moderation, including moderation itself. What logically follows is that you must, from time, have excess. This beer is for those times.

Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by DoubleJ:

Who would have thought I'd run into this beer on-tap? I already bought two bottles for myself, but maybe I'd be better off tasting a small amount before I dive into my bottles. On-tap at 38 Degrees in a 4½ ounce taster glass, on to the beer:

Creamy black color, not the super dark jet black I've come to expect from the style. A little bit of lacing stay on top the beer and on the glass. There's a lot of chocolate fudge in the aroma. I didn't really smell a lot of booze. The cranberry starts to come out and add another dimension to the nose. A really pleasant nose, and not harsh at all.

Ok, here we go. There is some good flavor, and yes, there is quite a bit of alcohol. Chocolate liqueur is the most dominant of the flavors. I like how the jasmine and cranberry additions are melded into this strong beer; it's not just a strong cloying stout. Strong vodka-like booze hits towards the end, but the boozy element is short lived. Body is more medium bodied than full, aftertaste isn't very intense, which helps get this beer down faster.

Tokyo* isn't just another high ABV stout; the spice and fruit really add to make this beer unique in its category. Personally, I've been dissapointed with the BrewDog beers I've sampled in the past, so I'm pleasantly surprised to see this beer come out without being a train wreck. Now, the hard part will be saving a bottle for long-term aging.

More User Reviews:

If the saying is true, "Everything in moderation, even moderation", then Brewdog brewers are taking some artistic, boozy and roasty liberties, pushing this massive stout well beyond 18% alcohol.

Popping the cap and tilting the bottle, the dark brown, tawny elixir might as well crawl into the glass all by itself. Its oily appearance nestles into the snifter with the daintiest swirl of espresso-like creme for its crown. Lavish aromas flood the olfactories with coffee, dark chocolate, wonderfully burnt sugar, sherry wine, port and madeira. Its strong vinous presence sneaks in a robust and fortified wine flavor just underneath the decadent sweetness of black-strap molasses, brownie batter and buckwheat honey.

The low-lying carbonation allows the toasted sweetness to seep deep into the tastebuds, pulling with its the flavor and texture of fudge, bittersweet chocolate, espresso, heavy cream and spun toffee. But when the sweetness reaches a crescendo, in trots the strong booze and tangy fruit balance. Red grape, licorice, red berry, plum, prune and blackberry- all seeming in the booze-soaked variety- slice through the malt for a surprisingly well balanced taste.

Long and savory in its finish, the stout doesn't exit the palate quickly, rather preferring to linger like fine port or cognac. Its thick, cloying texture and smoldering alcohol warmth evoke a patient session of low volume to allow the savory umami, teryaki-like, salty, meaty oxidation to be explored to its fullest.

Batch ..3Best by 16/02/20Oak aged stout brewed with cranberries and jasmineIn a snifter the beer was a very dark brown, almost black color, with a miniscule tan head.Strong aroma of alcohol, also tart fruit and chocolate.More of a chocolate taste than anything else. Could appreciate the cranberries, but couldn't find the jasmine. Alcohol noticeable.A bit on the hot side, but not as much as I guessed from the aroma.Interesting beer.

poured into brandy snifter. Minimal head to be expected from a 18.2% abv. No lace in the traditional sense. Lots of tiny bubbles that cling to the glass. A bunch of dots. Strange. Interesting.Aroma is wonderful. Like a good brandy only better if you like complexity. Lots of flavors especially chocolate build expectations of things to come.Liked the taste a lot. A very good sipping beer. Don't want it to end.Mouthfeel? No problem here. Extends the overall experience nicely. No cloy. Nothing to detract - except for the quick buzz.Given its limited release, I only hope I can snag a few more of these if I get the opportunity.

Note: This is a review of "Tokio" with a red asterisk--the 18.2% ABV version--as opposed to bottles with the "Tokyo" spelling, with a white asterisk, or sans asterisk altogether. The beer--subtitled an "intergalactic fantastic oak aged stout"--is noted on the label as having been brewed with cranberries and jasmine, then dry hopped and aged on French toasted oak chips.

Tokio begins with the kind of aroma that lets you know your tastebuds are in for an ass-kicking (as if the 18.2% ABV wasn't enough): huge sugary malts, bursting with crystallized sugars, fig and port aromas, oranges, brown sugars, molasses, candied dried fruits, cognac, and anise, and rosewater hops which add a heaping dose of pine and grapefruit.

On the tongue, the beer begins with a sugary-sweet lure of brown sugars, raisins, and figs, then takes a sudden plunge into the bitter and dark, bringing in paralyzing doses of, in order, black malt, espresso, tobacco, ash, whiskey, cognac, and vodka, as the brew lingers on the tongue, the flavors change, and the sugars die off to reveal the massive alcohol content. I'm not exactly sure where the cranberries and jasmine come into play, as my tongue is overwhelmed by these darker, more alcoholic flavors (perhaps they help temper them?), but the presence of the oak chip aging definitely adds overtones of wood and char. Even the hops, coming in at 90 IBUs, take a backseat to the malts, and are mostly noticeable late in the mouthful, especially in the long-lingering aftertaste, where they are accompanied by chocolate and black malts, with hints of whiskey. Mouthfeel is an alcoholic medium-heavy, and carbonation is medium-light.

Overall, I'm impressed by the craft of this beer, as it's difficult to imagine how so many flavors have been crammed into one bottle. The mix feels supersaturated, the ingredients fighting for attention, but simultaneously working in harmony. This is, however, a sipping beer, and definitely not for the faint of heart. The sheer levels of alcohol and flavor in this would, I suspect, make a guzzler quite sick, and I doubt the casual beer drinker would appreciate (much less like) what they're tasting. But if you're on the lookout for something impressive, daring, and cutting-edge, this is certainly a good place to start.

Pours black with a half-finger brown head. The head recedes into a thin layer on top leaving decent lacing.

Smells of sweet molasses, roasted malts, dark fruits, and tobacco, in that order. As the beer warms hints of peat sneak out.

Tastes similar to how it smells. Loads of sweet molasses flavors kick things off, backed by mild amounts of roasted malts. Midway through the sip good amounts of boozy dark fruits make an appearance - plums and black cherries. Hints of tobacco come into play right before a sweet ending with a good deal of heat sticking around on the palate.

Mouthfeel is very good. It's got a very nice thickness with grainy carbonation.

Drinkability is good. I finished my glass without a problem and could have another.

Overall this is a big beer but does a nice job of holding in the boozy heat. An interesting one and worth a shot.

This beer is a dark brown color, going nearly black with dark mahogany highlights. The light brown head is thin and manages to drop spotty lacing.Malts are all over the aroma but dominated by alcohol. Strong notes of raisins and interesting sweetness pop out as well. It seems complex but overwhelmed by the booziness, but I do get a bit of woodiness, which has a dryness to it that can't overcome the sweetness. It's very difficult to pull out, but I manage to catch the ghost of an herbal leafiness. It's delicate, so difficult like many of the subtleties in here to pick out. Still, I like what I can get from this smell.The same goes for the flavor; there's lots of complexity that takes a lot of work to pull out under the general booziness. Otherwise that leafy hop twang does manage to make an appearance under lots of raisin, a bit of chocolate, something like licorice, light dry woodiness, and caramel.The body isn't quite big enough for a stout, particularly a double. It's not light by any means, it's just a little shy of the heftiness of the style. It is interestingly crisp and biting, and a bit too much at that.

Pours black as a tokyo sewer at midnight, with a very thin head that is almost as dark. The nose is really strong and complex. Lots of roasted malts and some oak, followed by dark fruits, followed by a lighter fruit (I am going to attribute that to the cranberry but in the context of the other smells it was more like a fresh current) with some definite tartness on the nose. Lots of cocoa and as I continue to smell I get more of a fresh cut pine smell (dryhoppoing? it is not piney like an IPA but more like smelling the stump of a recently felled pine tree). Definitely some alcohol on the nose, though no where near what I was expecting from a beer this massive. The taste was good, though a bit muted compared to the nose. The bitterness was smooth and helped to balance out the palate so that you were not overwhelmed. The mouthfeel was excellent, especially considering the high abv. I had this for desert and it was full enough to stand on its own but did not become cloying. Overall, this is the first beer I have had from BrewDog and I know they get a bad rep for their "extreme" nature but this one came off as a unified beer and not just a marketing ploy. I will definitely seek this out again.